Dr. Wayne Inuglak Clark's Bio
Dr. Wayne Inuglak Clark ᐅᐊᐃᓐ ᐃᓄᒡᓚᒃ ᑲᓛᒃ is an Inuk health systems scholar and academic leader whose work advances distinctions-based research, Indigenous governance, and health systems transformation. A Registered Inuk of the Nunavut Agreement (Tikiraqjuaq / ᑎᑭᕋᕐᔪᐊᖅ), he integrates Inuit Qaujimajatuqangit (IQ) with epidemiology, clinical trials infrastructure, and medical education to advance culturally grounded models of care.
Dr. Clark serves as Executive Director of the Wâpanachakos Indigenous Health Program and Assistant Professor in the Department of Psychiatry, Faculty of Medicine & Dentistry, University of Alberta. He is also a Visiting Assistant Professor at the Johns Hopkins Bloomberg School of Public Health and an Adjunct Professor in Peace and Conflict Studies at the University of Manitoba.
He holds a Doctor of Education from Athabasca University, a Master of Business Administration from Worcester Polytechnic Institute, a Master of Arts in Professional Communication from Royal Roads University (Governor General Gold Medal nominee), and a Bachelor of Business Administration from the University of Winnipeg.
Dr. Clark’s program of research focuses on Indigenous data sovereignty, Inuit-led health systems evaluation, distinctions-based clinical trial design, and institutional transformation in medical and public health education. He is Principal Investigator within the $38.9 million Accelerating Clinical Trials (ACT) Consortium and leads multiple nationally funded initiatives, including CIHR-supported Inuit data sovereignty research (Qanuinngitsiarutiksait), distinctions-based vaccine trials, land-based mental health interventions, and Indigenous primary health care research networks. His funded portfolio exceeds $50 million in collaborative research awards.
He has authored and co-authored more than twenty peer-reviewed publications in journals including International Journal of Circumpolar Health, Journal of Clinical Epidemiology, The Lancet Regional Health – The Americas, Cancer, BMJ Open, and Analytical Chemistry. His scholarship has contributed to national policy conversations on Indigenous clinical trials, Inuit data governance, and distinctions-based research design.
Dr. Clark currently serves as President of the Canadian Society for Circumpolar Health, Co-Chair of the Association of Faculties of Medicine of Canada Indigenous Committee, Vice-Chair of the National Circle for Indigenous Medical Education Academic Advisory Council, and Fulbright Arctic Initiative Scholar (2024–2026). He has served on the CIHR Institute Advisory Board for the Institute of Indigenous Peoples’ Health and on multiple national advisory bodies related to Indigenous health governance.
An award-winning educator, Dr. Clark designs and delivers Indigenous health curricula across undergraduate and graduate medical education and supervises MSc and PhD students in Indigenous health systems and clinical trials research across multiple institutions.
Prior to his academic appointments, he served as Director of Indigenous Patient Services at the Winnipeg Regional Health Authority (2013–2021), where he led system-level redesign initiatives focused on Indigenous patient safety, cultural safety, and institutional accountability.